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It is with great sadness that we say goodbye to Jess, who has been a stellar competitor. She takes with her not only participation points, (5)but third place points (5) and this wonderful banner created by the amazinglyfantasticWholockaficionado –minnabird!

And I declare Julia (the opaleye) to be the winner – again! Is this snake going to give any other house a chance?

Here were the prompts and who set them ~

Lori set:

For Julia:

Write a drabble in which Snape is paired with a female Hogwarts professor from the trio era. They don’t need to be in love, but there should be genuine positive feelings involved (not just a sexual relationship). A fanged Frisbee must have significance in the scene.

For Jess:

Write an Umbridge-centric drabble in which she is portrayed in a sympathetic light. It should be set during the time she was at Hogwarts during OOTP, and must be from the perspective of a canon character who isn’t Filch, a Slytherin, or a Death Eater. No flashbacks, please.

Jess set

For Lori:

Write a drabble set at Hogwarts during Harry’s Horcrux Hunt. It must be in the perspective of a student that was at no point in Dumbledore’s Army but was, at some point, a victim of one of the Carrows’ cruelty. Said cruelty does not have to occur during the drabble’s timeline, but it does need to be alluded to clearly. Just in the interest of interestingness, make this student a canon character (interview or book canon — your choice) no older than a sixth year.

For Julia:

In this drabble, I’d like you to feature a Marauder Era Slytherin (as there are few characters whose houses are specified, you are allowed to make an educated decision as to who fits the bill, but nothing canon contradictory) who was approached about joining both the Death Eater Ranks AND the Order of the Phoenix. By the end of the drabble, the character’s decision must be made clear, whether it is to join the former or latter. However, this character cannot be Severus Snape, Regulus Black, Bellatrix Black Lestrange, Lucius Malfoy, or Narcissa Black Malfoy.

Julia set

Prompt for Jess: Write a drabble set on the last day at Hogwarts for the Marauders. Your drabble must feature all four Marauders but they mustn't mention Lily at all and it should end on a happy note.

Prompt for Lori: Who knows what the professors get up to in the staff room? Write a Marauder-Era drabble in which Severus Snape is caught hiding in the staff room by someone other than Dumbledore or McGonagall. Why he was there and what he saw or overheard is up to you.

Oh, and a side issue. The winner of most evil Bellatrix worthy prompt goes to Lori, for the evility that was the ‘Sympathetic Umbridge’ prompt. Who would have thought a gentle Hufflepuff could be so naughty? (Well, I knew, but the rest of you probably thought we just sat in our common room knitting socks.)

I must move on and stop sobbing.

And so it came to pass that we were down to the two. Their drabbles have been read, dissected and voted on for the past ten weeks, and much enjoyment has been had from their creativity. All the brawlers have angsted and very probably hated the barmaid for her ebil prompts.

But we have to have a winner, and so I bring you the last prompt.

‘Last Spell’

You may interpret this in any way you choose. The only stipulation is that the character you use must be mentioned in every book in the Harry Potter series. So. Be. Careful. You can’t, for instance, use Wendelin the Weird because she’s only mentioned in Prisoner of Azkaban.

(Also, I only mean the actual books and not things like Quidditch Through the Ages, or The Lions of Gryffindor ... *remember to insert smiley face here, or they won’t realise you’re joking*)

The barmaid exits sure in the knowledge that sometimes the easiest looking of prompts can be the very devil to write.

Title: Life and TrainsWord Count: 499Rating/Warning: 3-5thA/N: From HBP, The White Tomb:

"He had never attended a funeral before; there had been no body to bury when Sirius had died. He did not know what to expect and was a little worried about what he might see, about how he would feel... He felt in his pocket for the cold chain of the fake Horcrux, which he now carried with him everywhere, not as a talisman, but as a reminder of what it had cost and what remained still to do."

Harry pressed his fingers to his dormitory window. It was already a beautiful day. The sky was a cloudless, brilliant blue that stood vast and bright against the greens of the forest and grounds. A breeze played at the tops of the trees, pushing across the surface of the lake until it sparkled like gold. The sun itself was the worst offender—blaring on relentlessly as if everything was the same today as it had been yesterday.

His belongings were packed and ready for the Hogwarts Express, which Harry was scheduled to board in a matter of hours. And with that thought, the train joined breakfast, the sun, and the clear blue sky in a list of things behaving as if the death of Albus Dumbledore was nothing more than a glitch in the regular way of things.

Life and trains, it seemed, stopped for nothing. Not even this.

On the lawn, Hagrid and a wizard Harry didn’t recognize were magically arranging white wooden chairs in soldier-like rows. Compared to what he’d seen in the cave, it was a mechanical, mundane sort of magic. Even now, Harry couldn’t look at the lake without falling into the memory: hands and arms… bony limbs reaching, pulling him to the edge, drawing him toward a murky, crowded grave.

He dropped his forehead against the glass and closed his eyes. He saw the fire, glorious flames dancing, guiding the tiny boat to safety. Even in memory, it was overwhelming. Harry couldn’t help wondering if there’d ever been any kind of magic that hadn’t bent to the old man’s wishes, any spell he’d not mastered. And yet, in a night so full of Dumbledore’s extraordinary spell work, the last had simply been to immobilize Harry.

The irony twisted in his gut: Dumbledore’s final act had rendered him useless, but now that he was gone, Harry’s responsibility was greater than ever. He hadn’t been able to help then, but now, the future of their world rested on his shoulders. From here, he had to set out on the same path that had led Dumbledore to that long fall from the Astronomy Tower.

Worst of all, Harry would have to go it alone.

No more help would come from the one who had known everything. How could he leave his friends to pursue the Horcruxes? Where would he start? How could he possibly succeed when the greatest wizard of all time had fallen short?

The questions paralyzed Harry as the spell had done, but he knew he’d have to bear the unbearable now.

He glanced again at the lawn, now set for ceremony. Too soon, he’d sit in one of those chairs. He’d speak to his friends of an unknown future. Then he’d board the Hogwarts Express like usual.

He’d have no choice but to take a lesson from life and trains, and go on.

James leaves the curtains open. He likes to see it as a rebellion against the confines of the Fidelius Charm. I am not a prisoner of war, he thinks. I will not be controlled. He leaves the curtains open even when the darkness beyond feels like it’s seeping into his bones.

He sits on the sofa with his son, his beautiful boy. Wisps of coloured light and smoke spurt from his wand. Harry gurgles and his chubby little fists flail about as he tries to grab hold of something that isn’t real, something that doesn’t truly exist. James smiles and he can feel Lily watching them from the kitchen but he won’t look around, he never looks around because this time is just for Harry.

Sometimes, when he looks at his son, it is hard to imagine the future because it feels so distant and foreign. When he looks at his son he can see a glorious, blazing death that swallows James whole. He will fight for Harry and Lily and Sirius and Remus and Peter but he knows that he may not live, and that, for all it’s worth, is just fine. What is one life lost to save so many more?

Lily’s hand is on his shoulder now. He throws his wand aside with a laugh that cuts through his thoughts because he is happy, he is really happy in this moment. He looks into Lily’s eyes as he places their son in her arms.

One life lost to save so many more is nothing. The only problem is that when James and Lily lie side by side at night and he looks at her, her eyes blaze with the same glorious death, too. He worries for his son growing up without them, and the memories not yet lost. That Harry will live is not a mere hope but an inevitability because he will never, never let that thing touch his son.

Sometimes, when he looks at Harry, he doesn’t feel like James Potter but something more. He feels infinite.

So, when the door bursts open and his wand is on the sofa it’s all Lily and Harry and nonono because how could he be so careless? He’s not ready for this and he’s not ready for this death but he will go forth bravely anyway because this time the light shooting from Voldemort’s wand is real.

I am not a prisoner of war, he thinks.

And then there is green.

And then there is silence.

~~~~

Thank you to all the brawlers who have made this a memorable competition.

It has been a brawl of many highs and no lows. (I refuse to accept that setting Marauder one week was a low. It was my personal favourite). Hermione’s birthday was celebrated. Deception was practised. Many of the Potterverse characters did not ‘feel as free as they were told they were’ and Demelza Robbins emerged as the hot girl of Hogwarts.

It’s over now, and I know you want the results. Two blooming amazing drabblers were left. Julia (the opaleye) and Lori (Weasley Mom). Both wrote sublime final drabbles. Either would have been a worthy winner, but there could only be one.

Let me also stress here that the majority of the comments show how people were genuinely torn.

Oh my god. Both drabbles were so outstanding, it's eating me away to have to choose one. Though there can't be two winners I think both brawlers should know what fabulous contestants and writers they are, and how much I admire them both.

But the winner, with a score of twelve votes to two is .....

JULIA – the opaleye for the gloriously glorious glory that was The Close.

She gets 15 points for winning the brawl. 5 points participation and .... 27 points for individual stage wins.(She may also sleep now ....)

Let us not forget Lori (Weasley Mom)who played a blinder through all the rounds. She is awarded 10 points for second place, 5 points participation and 7 points for individual stage wins.

Brawlers, you can all hold your heads up high. It’s been a lot of fun, with only a few hiccups (like the three weeks when the barmaid kept deleting LuNaLoVeGoOdLoVeR’s drabbles – it really didn’t have anything to do with the difficulty I have typing your name ...)

Here is the list of participants. Thank you, everyone. I have enjoyed the ride, so I hope you have, too.